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( Southern United States)
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the&_160;South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States. Because of the region's unique cultural and historic heritage, including Native Americans; early European settlements of Spanish, English and French heritage; importation of tens of thousands of enslaved Africans; growth of a large proportion of African Americans in the population, reliance on slave labor, and legacy of the Confederacy after the American Civil War, the South developed its own customs, literature, musical styles, and varied cuisines. In the last few decades, the South has become more industrialized and urban, attracting internal and international migrants. As parts of the South are among the fastest-growing areas in the nation, they are developing new cultures. (See Cultural Variations for more about the complexity of southern states). As defined by the United States Census Bureau,[4] the Southern region of the United States includes sixteen states and the District of Columbia (with a total 2006 estimated population of 109,083,752.) Thirty-six percent of all U.S. residents lived in the South, the nation's most populous region. The Census Bureau defined three smaller units, or divisions
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Southern United States Subcategories
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